LAKEPORT – Sutter Lakeside Hospital is busily putting the finishing touches on its new Health & Wellness Expo.
The event takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, on the hospital grounds, 5176 Hill Road East, Lakeport.
The theme of this year's expo is “Catch the Spirit! Embrace, Learn and Align.”
A team of Sutter Lakeside staffers has worked since last fall to organize the expo, which will feature everything from adult health care screenings to the Find Your Fun! Expo for Kids. The team includes Leslie Lovejoy, Vera Crabtree, Nicole Grammer, Carrie McClure, Christine Petty, Michele Andre-Newton, Kathleen Stuart and Angie Lagle.
The hospital isn't just debuting its new event this week, it's also welcoming its new chief executive officer, Siri Nelson, who arrived Monday. Nelson comes from Sutter Amador Hospital, where she served as chief financial officer.
The Saturday event will feature six tents: car seat safety; the family birth center, covering family nutrition and breastfeeding; respiratory therapy, which will include smoking cessation and oxygen saturation; cardiology, with glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure checks; physical therapy, with a balance check and biofeedback; and discharge planning, where visitors can learn about power of attorney and medical directives.
There also will be a variety of vendors and workshop sessions on acupuncture, the healthy aging brain, yoga, transforming obstacles to achieve your dreams, Tai Chi Chuan, the Four Agreements, Tibetan sound healing, cooking, Pilates, Eastern healing and more.
Lovejoy called it a “very well-rounded program.”
Keynote speakers will be Dr. Fred Allen Wolfe, a quantum physicist, writer and speaker whose talk in the main tent at 11 a.m. is titled “Be the Change: Mastering the Quantum Physics of Life!”
At 5 p.m., Dr. Joan Borysenko, an author and lecturer who is a pioneer in integrative medicine and an authority in the body-mind connection, will speak in the main tent on “The Wisdom of the Heart.”
Lovejoy said Borysenko had done a previous conference at the hospital and agreed to come back and speak at the expo. “She really was impressed with our model and what we're doing here,” said Lovejoy.
The hospital's model includes four levels – signs of sickness, healthy body, healthy thoughts and feelings, and a healthy person.
Lovejoy said Sutter Lakeside wanted to integrate all of its aspects at the expo. “I think we've evolved in our image of ourself.”
For the children's portion of the expo, McClure said the goal is to help educate and inspire children to care about their health. “That's going to look different for kids than adults.”
Tammi Silva, director of the hospital's community relations, Wellness Center, marketing and Lakeside Wellness Foundation, said the hospital wants to build a generation of healthy children.
They'll introduce children to a variety of sports and physical activities, encourage them to try new foods and bring their own healthy lunch, said McClure.
Petty said middle and high school students who are part of the hospital's Leadership Adventure will take part as role models, showing how it's cool to be active and healthy.
Silva said they plan to make the expo an annual event.
Hospital staff is excited about the openness and welcoming atmosphere of the expo model, said Lovejoy. “I think it's here to stay.”
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